Passionate Advisors of the US Restaurant Alliance

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Gladys DeClouet is the CEO of DeClouet Consulting (operations, mergers, acquisitions). Previously, Gladys was the SVP, North American Operations for Burger King, and VP of Operations for Jack in the Box and the Marketing Division Manager for BP. Gladys has had direct P&L responsibility for businesses with $2B in sales and joint P&L responsibility for $14B in sales and is well-versed in implementing restaurant systems, mergers & acquisitions. 

Gerry Fernandez has spent 23 years as the President and Founder of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance earning the distinction as one of the ’50 Most Powerful People in Foodservice’ (2014). Prior to that, Gerry spent 13 years managing various restaurants before becoming a National Sales Manager for General Mills Foodservice. 

John Paul Galles is Executive Director of the Carolina World Trade Association, CEO of CLT.biz (media-based business) and principal of Galles Consulting, which focuses on economic development in the Carolina region. Initially in his career, John headed up the Small Business Association of Michigan and, following that, the National Small Business Association. From there, John directed the Welfare-to-Work Partnership under President Clinton before becoming Public Affairs Liaison with the US Department of Defense. More recently, John was the publisher of the Charlotte region’s business magazine, Charlotte Biz. 

Sam Makhlouf is currently the owner of BMC, LLC (commercial property investment & development), BM Land Holdings, LLC (property investments) and Dooreme (a media tech company with a unique class of integrated marketing & advertising technology). Prior to that, Sam has been a business tech consultant, and the CEO/Founder of several tech-based businesses.